Real, but the surviving record is thin or comes from one period only. Arrives with the Book of the Dead.
Anhefta
one of the two in the corridor
Part of the Aai.
Overview
Anhefta guards the corridor of the ninth division of the underworld, together with Ermen-ta, behind the pylon that the serpent Ab-ta holds.
Budge gives him in a single clause — "the guardians of the corridor are Anhefta, and Ermen-ta" [budge-1904] — and that clause is the whole attestation. The grade is ◐ partial because it is secure and because there is nothing more.
Attestation history
Budge, on the ninth division: "The pylon of the Ninth Division or Ninth Hour is called Aat-shefsheft; the serpent which guards it is Ab-ta; and the guardians of the corridor are Anhefta, and Ermen-ta. The wall is guarded by nine gods in mummied forms" [budge-1904].
What the texts say
The gate is staffed in depth. A serpent on the pylon, two guardians in the corridor, nine mummiform gods along the wall: twelve beings on one door.
Knowing the name is the function. Egyptian gate-passing works by correct naming. A corridor guardian with a recorded name and no attributes is, for the purpose the text serves, complete.
Iconography
None recorded. Budge names him without describing him.
Cult and practice
None.
What the census got wrong
This entry began as a stub carrying an aggregate-list description, and both of its claims turn out to be unsupported:
"A protective spirit who guards one end of the ninth division of Duat." The source says corridor, not one end. There is no indication that Anhefta and Ermen-ta are posted at opposite ends of anything; Budge pairs them at the same post.
Graded on that list under "Minor deities / Goddesses." Budge gives no gender for Anhefta, and the surrounding guardians are described as gods. The aggregate list's classification is not supported by anything archived here, and this entry does not repeat it.
And the grouping is wrong. The census makes Ab-ta, Anhefta and Ermen-ta "three guardian deities" called the Aai. Budge describes a serpent at a gate and two beings in a corridor behind it, and never calls them the Aai — which in his text is something else entirely. See the Aai.
The record
Every claim above traces to a row here. Source, exact place in that source, and what it actually supports.
| Source | Locus | Attests |
|---|---|---|
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, ninth division of the Tuat | Anhefta as one of the two guardians of the corridor, with Ermen-ta |
Sources
[budge-1904]— Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians (1904), vol. I, on the ninth division of the Tuat (p. 194). Public domain, archived insources-texts/. Budge caveat applies (04-BIBLIOGRAPHY.md).[budge-1905-gates]— Budge, The Egyptian Heaven and Hell / The Book of Gates (1905), vol. II, ninth division. Public domain, archived insources-texts/.[wilkinson-2003]— Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses. In copyright; cited only.
Open questions
- Find him in the Book of Gates plates; the 1905 volumes illustrate this division and would supply the only possible iconography.
- Resolve the gender question. The aggregate list calls Anhefta a goddess; Budge implies a god by context and states nothing. A determinative in the hieroglyphic text would settle it, and the corpus should say which it is rather than leaving both claims standing.
- Establish whether Anhefta and Ermen-ta are ever differentiated.
- Check the Amduat for a corresponding ninth-hour corridor guardian.
Cite this entry
Research grade: ◐partial — Genuinely attested, but the record is thin or single-period.
"Anhefta", The Egyptian God Corpus,
graded partial, retrieved 2026-08-10.